Darija Stipanic
- Anna Lilli Garai
- Aug 12
- 4 min read
Darija Stipanic is a Croatian artist who works with sculpture and painting. She uses materials like wood, paper, fabric, silicone, and sawdust to build textured, abstract forms. Her process is hands-on and shaped by everyday routines, changing moods, and the feel of the materials. She often finds inspiration in music, books, and time spent in nature. In works like "Like tango," she focuses on rhythm, contrast, and the balance between softness and structure. Her pieces have a quiet energy and a strong physical presence.
Q: You describe making art as an inner need. Do you remember when that feeling first appeared in your life and how it has shifted over time?
A: For me, creating is like breathing—something that simply has to come out.
Since I was a child, art wasn’t just something I liked—it was something I had to do. My earliest “artistic experiments” were making little clay pots in the garden, drawing, and even crafting tiny furniture for my dolls. Later, I finished the Interdisciplinary Study of Fine Arts and History at the Teacher-Training University.
Over the years, I participated in various workshops and symposiums, where inevitably, in synergy with fellow artists, new visions opened up. Art is, for me, a blend of personal experiences, memories, and the nature that surrounds me. All these elements have shaped the artist I am today.
Q: Wood has become a central material in your sculptural work. What drew you to it and what do you enjoy most about working with it?
A: I participated at the International Student Sculpture School Montraker, in an old Roman quarry in 1993 in Croatia, where I met two boys from Slovakia, students from Bratislava Academy of Fine Art.
Two years later, one of them, Peter Machata, invited me to a sculpture symposium. A new door opened for me, and there, working in the wood in an inspiring atmosphere, I fell in love for eternity with wood as a working material. They gave me a nice present, giving me a handmade chisel which I still use.
I graduated in December 1997 on the theme: “Ikonography of Dali’s Sculpture Works” and with sculptures in wood and ceramic.
Since I got married, I moved to a village in a forest, and the next logical step was to use wood as a working material.
Wood is especially dear to me because it has its own “life”—its structure, scent, warmth—and that dialogue with the material often leads the work in unexpected directions.
It is warm, susceptible but hard and demanding. It demands respect and perseverance.
Q: Your paintings often include mixed materials like paper, fabric, silicone, and sawdust. How do you decide what belongs in a piece?
A: Since I consider myself primarily as a sculptor, in my paintings I have a strong need to express texture, therefore I use different materials. While I am painting, I follow directions of my subconscious, meaning free choice and instinctive use without any restrictions.
Q: You move between sculpture, painting, drawing, and print. What usually tells you which direction to take with a new idea?
A: Rarely do I plan in advance, I try to live and enjoy the moment. Working across different mediums has opened so many creative doors for me. When I feel physically exhausted from sculpting, I turn to painting or drawing, which offers a different kind of release. Each discipline feeds into the others, giving me fresh perspectives and techniques. Sculpture taught me to think three-dimensionally, while painting introduced me to textures and colors, and printmaking added a layer of precision and thoughtfulness. This blend keeps my practice dynamic and continually evolving.
Q: Nature, music, and literature all seem to feed into your work. How did these influences come together in "Like tango"?
A: Every day brings new inspirations: the nature around me, my moods, the thoughts occupying my mind. Beside nature, the stimulus can also be music or a book, or a physical problem. Everything that surrounds us leaves a trace on us, and not only visually, but involves all our senses. I love music, songs, poetry, movement, and dance. I have always wanted to learn tango, therefore this painting is inspired by two songs. The title of this Croatian song was the inspiration for the title of the painting and it initially triggered the idea (song "Kao tango" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlT2kVaSm3I, band Vatra). The colors of the painting (black, sullen yellow or pale/dirty yellow) is like a physical manifestation of my dearest song "Tango Jalousie" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUW_DKlM8Og https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2BkIav-mdw).
Q: Do you feel a rhythm in making, like carving or painting, that connects with music or dance?
A: I feel like a sponge that absorbs information from the surroundings through my senses to the core of my soul or mind, and in specific moments it comes out translated in different materials. The only rhythm are my inhalations and exhalations, my temperament and character. In the end, it is my life and the need for creating.
